K0EPI air log

Another beautiful day at Pioneer Park

Doing some more testing at Pioneer Park today (2026-10-31).

- IC-705
- ID-50
- Macbook Pro M4
- Ipad Air 4
- CHA MPAS LITE MICRO
- Bioenno 9AH
- Buddipole powermini2

Playing around with some data modes. No goal, just seeing how well the antenna works. Today, the SWR is a bit higher at about 2.1:1 SWR. last time it was around 1-1.5:1. Likely soil changes. The soil seems drier today, the spike was more difficult to insert.

Pioneer Park (2026-10-25)

Spent some time at Pioneer Park (J786+C2 Aurora, Colorado) Testing out a few things:

- New Chameleon MPAS Lite Micro antenna
- The packet radio / APRS macOS app, AxTerm, I have been working on for a couple years
- TCP/IP over AX.25 packet (which is hope I am posting this very update)

The MPAS Lite worked better than expected, requiring no adjustment at all to achieve ~1.2:1 VSWR, with everything (whip and counterpoise) fully extended. When I tested with both FT8 and WSPR, I achieved full CONUS coverage. I also tried out VarAC and connected with a few BBS’.

AxTerm was used to check in on my home BPQ node (K0EPI-7), and mess around with my 44net connection with TCP/IP over packet. I am currently using that to post this very post. We will see how it works once I submit. It is very slow, as expected, but usable for simple sites. I am doing this through AXTerm, which serves as a sort of VPN between RF-based 44net and my computer, which allows me to use a standard browser. AXTerm does block HTTPS / SSL, before you ask. So no worries about breaking the rules. However, that does preclude usage of most websites.

Experimentation is fun!